Former Matsui Family Villa (Ganko Rokusanen) Earthen Wall

A red-toned wall ninety-one meters long

From the southern end of the nagaya-mon front gate, the earthen wall runs along the southern and western faces of the property, turning at the corners, for a total length of 91 meters. It stands about two meters high under a roof of sangawara pantile, with the strip below the eaves finished in plaster. Its date falls in the late Taisho years, between 1919 and 1926.

The colour is the thing to notice. The wall is earthen, sprayed with an aggregate tinted in bengara, the iron-oxide red of traditional Japanese coatings, so that the whole length carries a reddish cast. The skirt is built up in two courses of sandstone, and the base is laid in aoishi, the blue-green stone quarried locally. Earth, sandstone, and local blue stone give the long wall a settled, deliberate face toward the street.

Why it is registered

The wall was registered nationally in 2012 with the rest of the estate, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape. Of all the registered elements, it is the one a passer-by meets first, since it forms the public edge of the grounds along two sides. Its traditional colouring and stonework tie the whole estate together at the boundary and set the tone before a visitor reaches the gate.

What to look for

Walk the length of the wall and read it in layers: the blue-green local stone at the base, the two courses of sandstone above, then the reddish earthen field and the tiled cap. The bengara red is subtle, warmer in low light, and it is what gives the estate its particular street presence. Following the wall to the front gate is the natural way to begin a visit.